Red String
by Mad Hatter Usagi
Summary: AU, yaoi, absolute Yullen, one sided Laven and KandaxLenalee. When Kanda meets the new kid, he sees that they are connected by a red string. They blame their sudden attraction to each other on the string, although they know it was just fate. This is a REWRITE! Meaning it's going to be different. Please read and review.
1. Meeting

Yuu Kanda scanned the shelves in the library of Black Order Acadamy, looking for something to ease his boredom that morning. He had woken up exceptionally early that morning and couldn't fall back asleep. Kanda had went through his morning routine, but when he tried to meditate, he found he was too wound up for some reason, and couldn't concentrate.

So, he had went to the library. His first thought was to practice in the dojo, but it doesn't open until the first bell. He stopped at a book that looked interesting, _The Compendium of Japanese Folklore_. He plucked the book from the shelf and walked over to a table by the largest window.

Kanda flicked to the table of contents and skimmed it for stories he didn't know. He had grown up in a Japanese temple, up until the start of high school, so he knew most of what was in it. He saw something that caught his eye, in italics was something called "The Red String of Fate".

He flipped to the corresponding page and saw a picture of a hand with a glowing rouge string tied in a bow around the pinky finger, one end trailed off out of view, then back into view as it connected to someone else's pinky finger.

He read carefully down the page, and summed it up in his head. The "Red String of Fate" was a string that connected you with the person you were meant to be with. It couldn't be cut or changed, and it would stretch as far as it needed to. Sometimes, on rare occasions, people who have just met their soul mate could see that string, to point them in the right direction.

The morning bell rang, meaning he had five minutes to make it to homeroom across campus. Kanda left the book open on the table and quickly left the library, going into the hallway and began running. He ran down three flights of stairs and through a long hallway, then he crossed the large courtyard, avoided the main office, and dashed for the school building, going up a flight of stairs and making it in the classroom and into his seat just before the bell rang again, signallng tardiness.

He sighed and put his head down on his desk as Lavi Bookman began talking his ear off. Kanda sat in the very back, next to the window, with an empty seat in front of him and (much to Kanda's annoyance) Lavi sat to his right. Whenever Professor Tiedoll wasn't teaching, Lavi would turn to his left and would talk and talk and talk and talk...until Kanda threatened to hurt him, then he would shut up for a few minutes.

Professor Tiedoll was the most liked teacher on campus, but he still got on Kanda's nerves because he insisted on using Kanda's first name, something the other teachers had learned not to do. He seemed to care for his students more than other teachers did, and he was lax about things other teachers would freak about, like talking without raising a hand, or chewing gum, or sleeping in class.

As Professor Tiedoll walked in, Kanda looked up, and watched him set down his binders on his desk, then walked to the podium and push his glasses up further on hs nose. He straightened and smiled at the class, getting mostly tired looks back.

"We have a new student joining us today. I expect you to welcome him warmly," he turned to the door and spoke a bit louder. "You can come in now."

As the door opened, Kanda was suprised. At first he thought it was an old man, but he looked closer and corrected himself. The boy was shorter than him, had snow white, semi-long hair, and a pentacle tattooed on his forehead, that had a bit that extended down to cut through his left eye and flourish further to the left. The boy's left hand was gloved, and Kanda could tell that arm must be disfigured. He seemed different too, he wasn't the usual apathetic school kid like the rest of them. He seemed sort of optimistic.

That's when Kanda saw it. Tied on the boy's right pinky was red string. The strand drooped from the boy's pinky and weaved through the desks...and the other end was tied onto Kanda's left pinky. He couldn't believe his eyes as he stared at the end that was tied to him.

"My name is Allen Walker. I've been traveling around the world with my godfather, Professor Cross, who's going to replace one of the Biology teachers. Nice to meet you." As he was introducing himself, Allen's eyes had been down, but he had seen the string too and had traced it back to Kanda. Allen stared at the boy with long raven hair and could tell that Kanda was equally surprised and confused about the string beng there, but seemed to know what it was somehow.

"The only empty seat is there," Tiedoll points to the desk in front of Kanda. "In front of Yuu."

"Don't call me that you old geezer! It's Kanda! Kanda!" He stood quickly and growled at Tiedoll, knocking over his chair and momentarily forgetting about Allen. Kanda scowled and picked his char up and sat back down.

As Allen made his way to his new seat, the string's length shortened. By the time Allen was seated, the string was only about 4 feet long, and instead of drooping to the floor, it stayed suspended in air.

Tiedoll declared the class a study period to let Allen adjust to his classmates, but most of them just talked amongst themselves. Lavi on the other hand, took to Allen in a heartbeat. He introduced himself, and formally introduced Kanda, earning himself a death threat because he used Kanda's first name.

Thankfully, Allen didn't mention the string. In fact, he wouldn't even look at Kanda. Even though Kanda didn't say anything the rest of the period (unless to threaten Lavi), it made him angry that Allen hadn't looked at him at all. He cursed himself, he was acting like a middle school girl getting flustered that their crush wasn't looking at them specifically.

Soon, it was the end of class. Kanda left the room with Allen and Lavi, but Lavi soon turned and went in a different direction. Allen and Kanda walked together for a while without saying anything, then Kanda turned and looked at Allen.

"Are you following me or something?" He asked gruffly.

"No, my next class is in room..." Allen glanced at the schedule in his hands, "304."

Kanda glanced at him, suprised they were going to the same class. In this school, it was very, VERY rare to have two classes in a row with someone. It was supposedly to give students a bigger group of people to know, to build wider horizons.

Kanda snatched Allen's schedule away, skimming the whole thing. "What the hell?"

Allen cocked his head curiously, for some reason he didn't want to make Kanda upset, "What? Is something wrong?"

"We have every class together..." Allen blinked at him, frozen by suprise. "Why do I have to have every class with a Moyashi?" Kanda muttered,

Allen scowled, "It's Allen, BaKanda! And what's so wrong with me?"

Kanda stopped, so so did Allen, they glared at each other for several seconds, then they both turned their faces away and continued walking without looking at eachother. A light blush dusted each of their cheeks.

They didn't interact at all despite the universe's attempt at pulling them together. In each class they say near each other, or were made lab partners. But, finally it was lunch and they could finally seperate. Kanda got his lunch and went to the roof, where he usually ate lunch alone. Emphasis on ALONE.

After a few minutes of eating there, the door to the starcase opened and Allen walked onto the almost deserted roof, and froze when he saw Kanda there. Kanda was eating his lunch silently, still staring at the 'intruder' and saw that Allen had three trays of food, rather than one.

Kanda muttered, "Glutton Moyashi."

Allen stormed across the roof and plopped down across from Kanda, proceeding to eat his lunches. He scowled as he ate, but he ate quickly.

"I didn't ask for you to eat with me, Moyashi."

"I didn't come looking for you either, but I'm here now and I don't feel like leaving, BaKanda."

"Well, why not?"

"I wanted to ask you something anyway..."

"What?" Kanda asked grumpily.

"Why's there a red string connecting us? It doesn't look like anyone can see it either..."

Kanda froze, not knowing how to answer that, or if he wanted to at all. "Why do you think I know?"

"You look like you do, plus you're getting defensive now."

"Go look up 'the Red String of Fate'." Kanda got up and took his tray with him, leaving the roof, and Allen, behind.

Allen stared after the raven haired boy. His heart beat a bit faster than usual, and he could tell that his face was flushed pink. _Why?_ He thought,_ Why do I feel all warm when I'm with him? And what's this string?_ He held the hand up and stared at it.

_That damn Moyashi is killing me! These feelings are the fucking strings fault! _Kanda dropped his tray off in the cafeteria and stormed off to meditate before his next class.


	2. Working It Out

Allen finished his lunch as fast as he could, which was an extreme chore when his mnd was on Kanda and his strange reaction to what he though was a simple question. He was fascinated with Kanda, he couldn't bare to admit his attraction, and although he hadn't spoken to Kanda much, he had certanly kept his eyes on him whenever the Japanese boy wasn't looking.

He had noticed that most of the girls in the school thought he was a heart throb, despite his awful attitude. The boys here thought he was pretty cool, but thought he was a loner. Either way, most everyone stayed out of his way. Teachers only called on him if he raised his hand, even the teachers who would call on anyone, despite the hand.

Allen had finished his lunch and had decided to wait for his free period to go look up the Red String, in the meantime he was looking over the edge of the fence on the roof, down at the courtyard. He saw Lavi and a girl with short black hair walking together happily, toward where Kanda was meditating.

Allen caught the girls name as their conversation drifted up to him, it was Lenalee. He didn't have any classes with her yet, but he supposed he might have. He looked at the three of them intently, straining his ears to hear ther talking.

**"Go AWAY. I'm trying to meditate!"** Well that was definitely Kanda.

_"C'mon Yuu! We wanted to talk to you about the new kid!"_ That was Lavi, the only one besides Tiedoll who dared to used his first name.

**"Don't call me that! It's Kanda!"**

"Kanda, Lavi heard you have every single class with him, and you sit close too. That's never happened before!" That must be Lenalee...

**"I do,"** Kanda said simply.

_"Unfaaaaair!"_ Lavi whined,_ "Why do you get to hang out wth the cute new kid!"_

Allen stared at Lavi, and he saw that Kanda looked at him in surprise too. **"You mean you actually like that Moyashi?"** Allen, all the way on the buildng could see something that the other two couldn't in Kanda's face. It was more that confusion, it was jealousy. Why would Kanda be jealous? It's not like they were together or anything.

"He does! He's been talking to me about him since lunch started!" Lenalee plopped to the ground, leaning against Kanda and laughed. Allen scowled, he was sure that Lenalee was nice, but why was she close to hs BaKanda? ...Wait, Kanda isn't his. Allen bit his lip and turned away.

He shook his head, trying to get rid of his jealousy. He shouldn't feel this way, because he didn't like Kanda that way. In the back of his mind though he knew he did. The bell rang and he turned slightly to see Kanda walk off in one direction, and Lenalee and Lavi in another. He remembered that this period was Kanda's and his free period, so he was going to look up "the Red String of Fate".

He took his trays back to the cafeteria and got one of the other students to guide him to the library, he had such a horrible sense of direction that he was sure he would end up on the other side of campus if he didn't have a guide.

He approached the librarian, a woman named Miranda Lotto. She looked exhausted and she would knock over something every few mnutes. He smiled politely at her, and she looked at him gratefully, as if she strove for people to be happy with her.

"Ms. Lotto? I'm looking for a book on something called "the Red String of Fate", do you have anything on it?"

"Yes! I do, Kanda left a book out this morning with something like that in it..." She turned and knocked over a pile of books, she fell in their midst and beneath the pile she held up a large, red, leather bound book with golden script on the front. "Ah, here it is. The Compendium of Japanese Folklore." She stood and handed Allen the book with a smile, and watched as Allen walked to exactly the same seat that Kanda had sat in earlier that day.

He opened it and skimmed down the table of contents until he found it, then flipped to that page. It was a pretty short article, only about a page and a half, compared to the others being four to five pages long. Allen read it dutifully, when he was done he put his head down on the table and hid his face in his crossed arms.

He smiled softly, happy to know that Kanda's unsettled demeanor was mostly because the Red String story had turned out to be true. Allen accepted his attraction to the black haired boy then, knowing it wasn't so strange, it was just because of this stupid string. He stood up then, closed the book and went to check out the book.

He left the library with it, determined to find Kanda and talk about this with him. He realized that he had no idea where Kanda went, and looked around desperately to see if anyone knew. He glimpsed Lavi outside and ran up to him.

"Lavi! I've got a question..."

"What is it?" Lavi asked, happy that his one sided crush was talking to him.

"I was wondering where Kanda was..."

Lavi's smile sunk, then perked up a bit. "He's at the dojo. he does kendo during free perod and after school for an hour. Do you want me to show you?"

Allen nodded, happy that it had been pretty easy to locate him. So, Lavi and Allen walked together to the dojo, then Lavi left to go talk to a teacher about some project. Allen walked in and saw Kanda was the only one there, practicing with his shinai and scowling. He looked up at Allen, having noticed that the red string had been growing shorter and moving. Kanda saw the book in his hands and he sighed.

"So you really did look it up, huh Moyashi?"

Allen nodded and sat down on the floor, Kanda sat across from him and they put the book in between them. "I did."

"Well? Why'd you come looking for me?"

"It's weird, that's why! We've know each other for half a day and I'm already-" Allen stopped himself, unable to say that he loved Kanda, even though he knew it was true. "It's the string's fault!"

"I don't think so..."

"What do you mean? If the string wasn't there, then we wouldn't feel this way."

"No, we just wouldn't see it. We would probably still feel the same."

"How do you feel about me anyway?" Allen asked quietly.

"I think...that I like you. But I'd rather die than go out with you."

"Why?" Allen scowled and asked, "Is it because you would look like you actually had emotions?"

"No, that damn bunny likes you, and he'd never let me hear the end of it. He annoys me enough as it is. I'd probably get annoyed 24/7 and take it out on you. I wouldn't want to do that." Kanda scowled, hating how he had to explain this.

Allen stared at Kanda, then smiled softly. "Thanks..." He remembered how Lenalee had acted earlier and added, "Lenalee likes you, and that would probably piss me off 24/7 too."

"How do you know who Lenalee is? You haven't been in class with her yet."

"I might have...accidentally watched you, Lavi, and Lenalee talking earlier." Allen said, a guilty look on his face.

Kanda chuckled, which was a first for Allen. "Baka Moyashi. She probably does, but I'd probably get expelled if I push her away, her brother is the principal."

Allen frowned at the ground, then looked at Kanda wth begging eyes. "I like you Kanda...and I want to..." He trailed off, unable to say more because he thought kanda was going to shoot down the idea of them going out.

"We could always go out in secret." Kanda said, guessing what Allen was going to say.

"Really?"

"Sure. We could meet here for our free perod and after school. I'm really the only one who uses this place anyway. We sit close in every class too."

Allen smiled brightly and leaned across the book to give Kanda a hug, after a seconds hesitation, Kanda hugged back happily. For the rest of their free period, Kanda caught Allen up in mostly everything he needed to know about the school. They walked together to their next class, and it just happened that they sat together there too.

Lenalee was in that class, and she was a bit jealous about how clsoe they were. She didn't know about them being gay though, in fact no one would guess that the two of them were gay, or together for that matter.

The rest of the day went pretty smoothly, and Allen stayed by Kanda's side mostly the whole time, but people just thought that it was coincidence. At the end of the day, Kanda led Allen back to the dorm rooms. And much to their suprise, their dorms were right next to each others.

As soon as they realized that, they started laughing. No one else was in the hall at the time though, so Kanda's rare laugh was all for Allen. They went into their rooms and fell asleep smiling, thinking about each other.


	3. Class Project

The next day, the two of them woke up and had breakfast together, sitting across from each other n the cafeteria. Allen was just begining his second tray of food when Lavi and Lenalee walked up and looked slightly surprised that the two of them were together again and sat down. Lenalee next to Kanda and Lavi next to Allen, and the two of them scooted pretty close. The jealously at the table was rampant, Allen jealous of Lenalee and vice versa, Kanda jealous of Lavi and vice versa.

"Soooo...you two have been hanging out a lot." Lenalee said.

"BaKanda offered to help show me to class, since this place is so big and lost my schedule."

"Because baka Moyashi is clumsy and couldn't find his way out of a paper bag."

The two growled at each other, and at the same time said "My name's not BaKanda! (Moyashi!)" They suddenly stopped growling and started eating again.

Lavi looked at Allen, "Hey, why did you need to see Kanda at free period yesterday?"

Allen thought quickly, but Kanda was the one who spoke. "The librarian thought that I wanted the book back that I was reading yesterday morning. So she sent Moyashi to give it to me."

"Where's the book?" Lenalee asked curiously.

"I still have it. BaKanda didn't want it and I couldn't fnd my way back to the library..."

"Moyashi has no sense of direction."

They glared at each other again, but the bell rang so they got up and put ther trays away, just in time to run across campus with Lavi to Tiedoll's room. For the second day n a row, they make it just in time for the late bell.

Tiedoll walks in and sets his stuff down, then turns to the podium. "Today, we're going to pair up and work on a presentation on a piece of folklore. You're presentation must be both asthetically appealing and informational. You may pick your partners, but no groups of three, and I'll give you 10 minutes to do that, then you're to go to the library, or where ever to begin your projects. You're to go as soon as you have a partner, and are to go directly to your next class as soon as the bell rings. Find your partner."

Lavi stood up and walked the few steps to Allen's desk. "Allen, do you wanna work with me?"

Without asking, turning around, or anything, Allen immidiately says "Sorry, I'm working with Kanda."

Lavi turns to Kanda, who usually has to wait for Tiedoll to pair him up wth someone because he doesn't see the point in having one in the first place. Kanda shrugs, surprised that Allen was that quick, and it was obvious that he hadn't asked. Lavi looks surprised that Allen wasn't tripping over himself to be paired up with him, but summed it up to being new.

Lavi walks off and gets a different partner pretty soon. Allen had learned from Kanda yesterday that Lavi was pretty popular himself, more popular than Kanda anyway. Lavi was handsome, he didn't have attitude issues, and he loved to gossip, so he was very popular. Girls always wished he would choose them for things, and guys sort of did too because he was smart, it was exceptionally rare for someone to turn him down, and that's why Lavi was surprised before. Allen and Kanda walked out, and began talking.

"I think you rattled the bunny a bit in there."

"I don't care, I wanted to work with you, and you didn't seem to have a partner."

Kanda shrugs, "So what're we going to do the project on?"

"How about the Red String?"

"Great, you have the book in your room right?"

Allen nods, but looks at the floor.

"What's up Moyashi?"

"I don't remember the way to my room...and don't call me that!"

Kanda smirked and led Allen to his room, once inside they closed the curtains so they could be closer and not need to worry if someone was looking in. They sat on Allen's bed, their backs to the wall and picked up the book. They skimmed the artcle again to refresh their memories, and got to work.

They worked like that for a week and a half, and when they were finished, they said they weren't so that they could see each other more often without people getting suspicious. People were surprised when they presented it, because it was perfect, and because the subject is nothing like they would have expected.

They got an A, and extra credit. The highest grade in the class, higher than Lavi, who just got an A. A few girls in the class giggled and said that the two of them were amazing, and were cute together. No one else understood what they were implying, because Allen and Kanda argued so much.


	4. Telling

A few days after the project, more and more people were realizing how much time the two of them spent together. But, all they really saw was that they were bringing out each others good parts more. Despite the constant bickering, everyone had grown used to them, and no one really guessed that they were together.

They were seen going to the dojo every day at free perod, then they would close the doors and no one would ever see what they were doing. Really, they did a lot of things. Kanda would practice with his shinai, Allen would read, they would work on homework, sometimes they would even do the adorable couple thing and cuddle and kiss.

Allen wished he could hold Kanda's hand as they walked together, but he understood why they couldn't Lavi would be REALLY annoying if he found out about their public display, and Lenalee would be heartbroken, and her brother Komui would expell Kanda.

It was an accepted fact between them that they could only show their true feelings when they were in the dojo or the rare occasion when they were in each others room, they couldn't be in there too often or too long, or people would think something's up.

At breakfast one day, Lavi turned to Allen with a serious face that was pretty rare for him. "Allen, I have a question for you."

Allen, being pretty consumed in his eating, didn't realize his tone, but Kanda did and kept quiet. "Sure, ask away."

"Will you go out with me?"

"I'm sorry Lavi. There's already someone I like. But thank you." Allen looked up at him sympathetically.

Lavi blinked, then nodded sadly. "Okay." Lavi stood and left the cafeteria, but lots of people had overheard the conversation.

Throughout the day, tons of people approached Allen and asked him out, just to see if Allen would say that he liked them. Allen turned them all down, and as the day went on, he became more annoyed and brutal by it.

Kanda stayed silent the whole time, unwilling to acknowledge anyone who asked his Moyashi out. At lunch, Kanda and Allen went to the roof, and many, many, many students followed them up. They formed a line and asked, got turned down, and left. Allen looked like he was losing patience quickly, and Kanda looked like he would snap if one more person asked, so everyone retreated for the time being.

They both sighed in relief, and Allen layed on his back. "I shouldn't have admitted that I like someone..."

"It's true though, but I guess Moyashi's little brain was delirious from being hungry and couldn't stop himself."

"Allen. It's Allen, BaKanda." Allen sat up and glared at the raven haired boy.

"It's Kanda, Moyashi." Kanda turned and glared back at the snowy haired boy.

The two of them held that glare for a while, then burst out laughing. It was one of the rare moments that Kanda would laugh, and those rare moments were always caused by Allen. They both sigh sadly then, remembering the situation.

"What am I gonna do? One of us will end up killing someone if I don't fix this."

"I don't know." Kanda said, "But if anyone follows us to the dojo, they're going to the hospital."

When the bell rang, they headed back to the cafeteria to put their trays back, then walked to the dojo. Much to Kanda's annoyance, it was swarmed with people. Allen could feel his murderous aura and stopped him.

Allen whispered to him, because the people hadn't noticed them yet. "How about we go to your room instead?"

Kanda nodded and they went back the other direction, going to Kanda's room. They hung out in there, and discussed their options, but couldn't come up wth one that pleased them both. The bell rang for them to go back to class, so they went and spent their time in class, ignoring people who would send notes asking Allen out and the teachers who were just trying to teach.

As soon as Kanda and Allen had made it through the line to get dinner from the cook, Jerry, a girl approached them and walked wth them to their seats quietly, today they sat next to each other, with Lavi and Lenalee on the other side of the table. She stood next to Allen and spoke. "Allen, will you go out with me?"

Before Allen could respond, Kanda turned Allen's head so he was facing him, and kissed his lips hard. The whole cafeteria stopped what they were doing and watched as Allen responded to the kiss happily. When they finally pulled away from each other, Kanda turned to the girl.

"Allen is my boyfriend. Mine. Now shoo!" he made shooing motions with his hands and the two of them resumed eating.

Lenalee and Lavi stared hardest, then scowled at the two of them. "When did this start?" Lav asked.

"First day, free period." Kanda sad flatly.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Lenalee said angrily.

"Because you'd freak out." Allen said in the same tone Kanda did.

"Then why'd you just do that?" Lavi asked.

"Because I was sick of people asking out my Moyashi." Kanda said simply.

Lenalee and Lavi got up and stormed off, and once the Yullen couple finished eating, they dropped their trays off and went back to Kanda's room. They had decided, now that everyone knew, it wouldn't be strange for them to sleep in the same room.


End file.
